Strength of the forces of Mordor at the Siege of Minas Tirith
The exact numbers of the forces of Mordor at the Siege of Minas Tirith is unknown. However, based on estimations, the strength of the Mordor army is about 80,000 orcs of Minas Morgul, 18,000 haradrim from Harad, 9,000 easterlings, trolls, variags, wargs and other creatures and allies of Sauron.
Strength of the Minas Tirith Defense
About 10,000 men of the garrison of Minas Tirith, 700 swan knights and about 1,000 more militia and Gondor troops along with Gandalf, Imrahil, Pippin defended Minas Tirith.
Later on, the 6.000 Rohirrim led by Theoden would reinforce Minas Tirith while 4,000 more Gondor troops, Aragorn, Gimli, Legolas and the Grey Company would arrive at Minas Tirith.(In the movie, unknown number of the Army of the Dead, the Oath breakers of Dunharrow arrive instead of the southern Gondor troops.)
Nazgul’s terror on Minas Tirith and Black Breath
The nazguls riding the black wings or the fell beasts have brought terror on the garrison of Minas Tirith. The presence of the nazguls itself brought terror and discouraged morale of the Gondor troops.
Ordinary humans couldn’t overcome the fear and terror caused by the nazguls and the fear and terror caused by the nazgul’s presence was the strongest weapon of the nazguls.
Nazguls also possessed a special breath and power called Black Breath. The Black Breath of the nazguls were toxic to ordinary beings and would faint ordinary beings itself.
Black Breath of the nazguls could even kill a human and exposure to the Black Breath would severely weaken a human as well.
Why not just shoot the nazguls down
Ordinary humans couldn’t overcome the dreaded fear and terror caused by the presence of the nazguls.
The Gondor troops or other ordinary humans couldn’t resist the fear against the nazguls so although it may look simple, the nazguls on the fell beasts couldn’t be simply shot down as ordinary humans couldn’t even look at the nazguls straight because of fear.
Gothmog – Lieutenant of the Witch King of Angmar
In the novel, the race of Gothmog is unknown, however Gothmog appears as a crippled limping orc that is the field commander of the forces of Mordor during the Siege of Minas Tirith.
Gothmog was the lieutenant of the Witch King of Angmar and named after the Lord of the Balrogs Gothmog.
Harvey Weinstein & crippled orc Gothmog
Harvey Weinstein, one of the cofounders The Weinstein Company(TWC) was also one of the executive producers of the Lord of the Ring cinematic series.
Harvey Weinstein did have major successes as he was involved in numerous films like Scream Good Will Hunting, Shakespeare in Love, Gangs of New York(2002), Pulp Fiction, Chicago(2002), Kill Bill(2003) and many more.
However, he was trialed as a sexual convict later on. Rumors state that Harvey Weinstein tried to force Peter Jackson to shorten the Lord of the Ring movie series.
There are theories that Peter Jackson, a famous Tolkienist took his revenge by modeling the orc commander Gothmog from Harvey Wesintein
Great Gate of Minas Tirith and Numenor Masonry
Numenor Masonry was the technology and master craftsmanship of Numenor that built unbreachable masonry. Thus, unlike the descriptions in the movie, the castle walls of Minas Tirith weren’t destructible nor did they crumble.
The Tower of Orthanc was also impregnable as it was built with the masonry of Numenor. However, the Great Gate of Minas Tirith was built after the founding of Gondor as Minas Tirith (Minas Anor) wasn’t the capital of Gondor and was less significant.
Grond – Battering Ram of Mordor
Grond that was also known as the Wolf’s Head was a large battering ram that was towed by trolls and the great beasts that looked like rhinoceros.
Not much is known of these great beasts but some suggest that these came from Harad from the south as they were also referred as Southron monsters. The name Grond means “heavy weighted” in Sindarin Elf language.
The name Grond originates from the hammer of Morgoth(Melkor), the former master of Sauron.
Sauron’s master Morgoth wielded a hammer called Grond with a nickname as the Hammer of the Underworld and probably Sauron named this huge battering ram after his master’s weapon.
Destruction of the Great Gate of Minas Tirith and Breach into Minas Tirith
By the battering ram of the siege weapon Grond, the Great Gate of Minas Tirith is broken and the forces and allies of Mordor breach into the walls of Minas Tirith.
In the movie, Grond breaks the Great Gate of Minas Tirith by itself but in the novel, the Witch King of Angmar had to prepare a cast powerful magic and sorcery to breach the Great Gate of Minas Tirith. In the movie, there are easterlings mixed between the olog-hai and the orcs infiltrating Minas Tirith.
Gandalf, wizard or warrior – Gandalf’s sword Glamdring
There are many memes of Gandalf as Gandalf was depicted more as a great warrior than a wizard. However, viewers should know that Gandalf was a great warrior as well and a Maia that has lived for thousands of years with tons of experience.
Gandalf already slayed the balrog Durin’s Bane at the Battle of Zirakzigil as well. Gandalf also wielded the great sword Glamdring, the Foe Hammer that was known as the sword of Turgon, the Noldor elf king of Gondolin.
Olog-hai
Trolls with heavier armor that led the breach of Sauron’s army inside Minas Tirith were the Olog-hai.
The Olog-hai were special breeds of trolls made by Sauron that were resistant to sunlight and were much more intelligent than ordinary trolls.
Uruks of Mordor
The black uruks or the uruks of Mordor were the strongest types of orcs except for the Uruk-hai of Isengard. The black uruks or the uruks of Mordor were larger and stronger than ordinary goblins and orcs that dwelled in the Misty Mountains.
In the original novel, goblins were the same term as orcs but later on goblins were referred as lesser orcs.
Orcs were depicted stronger than humans in many games and media but in Tolkien’s original works, orcs were shorter and much weaker than men.
The Uruks of Mordor were stronger and larger than the ordinary orcs but weaker and smaller than humans in the original novel.
Gandalf and the Witch King of Angmar’s faceoff
In the movie, the Witch King of Angmar faces Gandalf and even broke the staff of Gandalf. In the novel, the Witch King of Angmar did mock Gandalf that Minas Tirith has fallen and Gandalf failed his mission as a maia sent to Middle Earth to save it.
However, Gandalf was a maia that a nazgul like the Witch King of Angmar couldn’t overwhelm so the fact that the staff of Gandalf was destroyed by the Witch King of Angmar made Tolkienists furious.
In the movie, after Pippin and Gandalf saved Faramir while Denethor 2nd died, they headed back to battle and cross upon the Witch King of Angmar.
The Witch King of Angmar insulted Gandalf, the horns of the Rohirrim echoes in the air. In the novel, the Rohirrim that took a secret passage to Minas Tirith were rather more stealth and arrived in silence to commence a surprise attack.
